gulf

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A large area of a sea or ocean partially enclosed by land, especially a long landlocked portion of sea opening through a strait.
2. n. A deep, wide chasm; an abyss.
3. n. A wide gap, as in understanding: "the gulf between the Victorian sensibility and our own” ( Babette Deutsch).
4. n. Something, such as a whirlpool, that draws down or engulfs.
5. v. To engulf.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A large tract of water extending from the ocean or a sea into the land, following an indentation of the coastline: as, the Gulf of Mexico; the Gulf of Venice. A gulf is usually understood to be larger than a bay and smaller than a sea; but in many cases this distinction is not observed. Thus, the Arabian sea on one side of the Indian peninsula is of nearly the same size and shape as the Bay of Bengal on the other, while the Bay of Biscay is many times larger than the Gulf of Genoa.
2. n. An abyss; a chasm; a deep place in the earth: as, the gulf of Avernus.
3. n. Something that engulfs or swallows, as the gullet, or a whirlpool; figuratively, misfortune.
4. n. A wide interval, as in station, education, and the like: as, the gulf that separates the higher and lower classes.
5. n. In Cambridge University, England, the place at the bottom of the list of passes where the names of those who have barely escaped being plucked in examination are written. These names are separated by a line from those of the students who have passed creditably.
6. n. In mining, a large deposit of ore in a lode.
7. To swallow; engulf; cast down, as into a gulf.
8. In the University of Cambridge, to place in the gulf, or among those students who have barely escaped being plucked in their final examination.
9. To flow like the waters of a gulf.

Wiktionary

1. n. A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin.
2. n. obsolete That which swallows; the gullet.
3. n. That which swallows irretrievably; a whirlpool; a sucking eddy.
4. n. geography A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially landlocked sea; as, the Gulf of Mexico or Persian Gulf.
5. n. mining A large deposit of ore in a lode.
6. n. A difference, especially a large difference, between groups

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin
2. n. obsolete That which swallows; the gullet.
3. n. That which swallows irretrievably; a whirlpool; a sucking eddy.
4. n. (Geog.) A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially land-locked sea.
5. n. (Mining) A large deposit of ore in a lode.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. an arm of a sea or ocean partly enclosed by land; larger than a bay
2. n. a deep wide chasm
3. n. an unbridgeable disparity (as from a failure of understanding)